As a lawyer who has seen the litigation process wreck businesses and families engaged in legal disagreements, I am an ardent supporter of the Collaborative Law process. Collaborative Law provides a framework for parties and their lawyers to work toward resolving the dispute without dragging it through the court system and all the adversarial gamesmanship that involves. One of the most important elements of the Collaborative Law process provides that both lawyers must withdraw from the case if a settlement cannot be reached. That helps the lawyers (who often get caught up in beating the other lawyer) keep their client’s real interests in mind, instead of fanning the flames with tough talk.
Texas has had a Collaborative Law statute for family law matters since 2001, and now a statute has been proposed for civil matters. You can read the email below to get an update on the efforts to get the law passed. Some trial lawyers, who perhaps don’t understand Collaborative Law, or who stake their reputation on being hired tough-guy gunslingers, are opposing the proposed civil statute. Using a Collaborative Law process is completely voluntary. It will not be forced on anyone.
I am asking you to write your state senators and state representatives to urge them to support the Collaborative Law statute. To find the address of your representatives, go to http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/fyi/fyi.htm . To learn more about Collaborative Law first, go to www.collaborativelaw.us , http://www.collaborativepractice.com/ , http://www.collablawtexas.com/ or just Google the term “Collaborative Law.”
To make it easy to write a letter about Collaborative Law, I have made two sample letters available as Word documents (Letter Supporting Collaborative Law Bill #1, Letter Supporting Collaborative Law Bill #2). A lot of people have concerns about lawsuits. Here’s a way you can support a better alternative. You don’t need to be a lawyer, just a voter.